The Geneva Escalade

In December 1602, the Duke of Savoy attempted to take the city state of Geneva with a surprise attack. Referred to as the ‘escalade’ because of the wooden ladders used to scale the city walls, the attack was thwarted and the city finally became independent.

Monument to Stefano Franscini (1796-1857) in Faido village square, erected to mark his centenary in 1896 (detail).
Saluting one of the first Federal Councillors, Stefano Franscini

On 16 November 1848, the first Federal Council elections were held – a unique event in Europe at that time. The composition of the first national government is striking. And who wouldn’t have wanted to be friends with Stefano Franscini?

Under pressure: during the Second World War, hostile powers sought to manipulate the Swiss press.
The ‘Trump Affair’

In the summer of 1940, German press attaché Georg Trump attempted to silence critical voices within the Swiss press. Staging a fightback, the country’s newspaper editors found themselves caught between the opposing forces of neutrality and accommodation.

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Sabina Spielrein – a rediscovered voice of psychoanalysis

Sabine Richebächer 20.11.2025 The name Sabina Spielrein (1885-1942) mostly conjures up images of a very young woman who was both patient and friend to C. G. Jung before later becoming a psychoanalyst in her own right. But as well as practising as a therapist, she played a key role in shaping many theoretical and organisational aspects of the nascent field of psychoanalysis.
Sabina Spielrein (front row, second from left) began working at the Rousseau Institute in Geneva in 1921 – an academically productive period during which she gave lectures and talks, published papers and conducted a series of training analyses with her colleagues.

Alsatian conscription evaders in Switzerland

Christophe Droesch 18.11.2025 After Alsace-Lorraine was annexed from the rest of France in 1942, the German Reich forcibly conscripted young men from these regions to fight for the Wehrmacht. This led many to try and flee to Switzerland, including René Grienenberger, the only survivor from a group of 18 young men who tried to escape.
Two members of the Swiss Armed Forces and a member of the German Wehrmacht at the border between France and Switzerland near Goumois (canton of Jura), 1940.

A woman at the very top of Swiss skiing

Nils Widmer 13.11.2025 Elsa Roth from Bern was a ski racer, ski instructor and winter sports official. She co-founded the Swiss women’s ski club and helped run the Swiss national skiing association for almost 35 years from 1939. Today, very few people have heard of Roth.
Elsa Roth in her role as secretary general of the Swiss Ski Association in Bern, 19 June 1965.

Bern’s subversive street signs

Thomas Weibel 11.11.2025 Street signposting in Switzerland takes the form of white writing on a blue background. But not in Bern’s old town, where the street signs are red, green, yellow, black and white. The City of Bern inherited this bright design from the French military campaign in 1798.
Coloured street signs to help the French army find its way through Bern. Illustration by Marco Heer.
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Popular posts

Sexuality in the Middle Ages

Valérie Lüthi 13.06.2024 If we hazard a look at the medieval era, we discover a history of sexuality that is far more multilayered than we might at first have imagined. While the Christian church sought to extend its influence into private bedchambers, ‘lascivious’ attitudes and practices stood in the way of its ambitions.
Detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, 1490-1500.

The Battle on the Planta

James Blake Wiener 10.11.2022 On 13 November 1475, the Valaisans and their Confederate allies defeated the powerful army of Savoy at the gates of Sion. Their victory in the now little-known «Battle on the Planta» was of great importance for the Confederation and decisive for its successes in the Burgundian Wars.
The Battle on the Planta in the Zurich and Swiss Chronicle by Gerold Edlibach, between 1506 and 1566.

Bern’s subversive street signs

Thomas Weibel 11.11.2025 Street signposting in Switzerland takes the form of white writing on a blue background. But not in Bern’s old town, where the street signs are red, green, yellow, black and white. The City of Bern inherited this bright design from the French military campaign in 1798.
Coloured street signs to help the French army find its way through Bern. Illustration by Marco Heer.

Mushroom mania

Hannes Mangold 07.10.2025 Foraging for mushrooms has become a popular pastime throughout Switzerland. And fungi hold immense promise in science and industry. Yet these fascinating organisms were once seen as harmful. How has this fundamental change in their image come about?
The fly agaric, depicted by Swiss artist and researcher Hans Walty, 1917.

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